Entwined
by Tora Nanashi
Summary: Their fates were entwined from the moment of their very first breath. ItaShi


Their fates were entwined from the moment of their very first breath.

One was the pride of the Uchiha clan. He was the first child of a proud kunoichi and an even prouder clan head. He would bear the name of Uchiha on his shoulders and as thus, began training almost as soon as was unable to walk. He would become the greatest talent Konoha had ever seen.

He would also become their greatest shame.

The other was the dirty secret of the Uchiha clan. He was the product of an affair that the clan head had with some woman from Kiri. The said man was promptly shamed, nearly disowned and Fugaku had risen to take his place. The child however, would suffer for the sins of his father. He would become their embarrassment by simply bearing the Uchiha name.

He would also become their greatest martyr.

He was fascinated by him. By that flawless grace that he possessed even in the midst of battle, where even if his hands were covered in the enemy's blood (because it was never his), where even if his long, silky hair was encased in mud he would still pull off kills after kills with a feline grace.

He never dared to approach him. He was like an ethereal being, not meant to be touched, seen or watched. But he always watched him. He just couldn't stop.

He knew that he should hate, despise, _loathe_ him because he was everything he could never be. He had taken _his_ place as heir, taken everything he had. He was the reason everyone else looked down upon him with a condescending sneer and a smirk like they had proven their point, that they had been right all along.

_We knew you could never be as good Shisui; you are only an Uchiha by name._

He knew that he watched him in the shadows. He knew that there was another pair of Uchiha eyes curiously peeking at him, watching him in bewilderment as he trained and battled. He knew that he was not the first one of those that had come to watch him. But what was special, was that he _kept_ watching him. He wasn't just gauging his abilities or testing his limits or even attacking him but just simply watching. Unconsciously, he had gotten used to his presence but that didn't explain his need to look better, to _show off_ in front of the older boy.

_You must the strongest Itachi, as expected from my son._

Their meeting was nothing spectacular, no fireworks or huge neon signs. Shisui had just, on an impulse, come out of his hiding place and walked up to Itachi to introduce himself. Itachi had allowed himself a small smile when the other (finally) exposed himself and greeted him quietly.

Mikoto was ecstatic when she heard that her older son had made some friends and Fugaku was too until he heard just who exactly it was. But Mikoto had a word with him and the next day, Itachi was sent off with two bentos for the boys to enjoy.

Their friendship was forged on the banks of the Nakano over homemade bentos, Shisui's laughter and Itachi's small smiles.

One day Itachi didn't come back from his mission on time and Shisui was beside himself with worry. He had walked over to Itachi's house so often that Mikoto had suggested that he stayed with them and waited for him together. Gratefully, he accepted and sat inside with a cup of hot tea looking out the window for a sign of his cousin every other minute. Through Mikoto's reassuring smiles, Fugaku's disapproving glares and Sasuke's constant fretting, he waited until he finally saw Itachi making his way home tired but unhurt but it wasn't until they were behind closed doors that he flung his arms around him and choking back tears, clung onto him like his life depended on it. That night, for the first time, Itachi fell asleep with another's warm arms around him. He would never come back from a mission late again.

It was when they were walking away from that fated meeting that Itachi had voiced his concerns about the coup. Shisui had stopped and enveloped him in his arms and whispered in his hair.

_I know you don't like the violence that this will bring about but soon Itachi, soon, you will no longer have to take orders from them. Soon, you won't belong to Konoha anymore and you won't be _anyone's _weapon or tool anymore._

But by then, it was already too late.

Konoha's plans set into motion. Itachi drew his sword, his heart in his throat. He knew that this would be the hardest stage; neither the murder of his parents nor the abandonment of his brother would be harder than killing the man in front of him.

Their friendship forged on the banks on the Nakano would also end there.

_I'm sorry._

Shisui could feel his tears caressing him in the icy currents and he had the desperate urge to tell him, to tell him everything, not in an attempt to save his life but because his life was about to end and he wanted, he needed Itachi to know, need him to know.

It wasn't until he was dry and wrapped up in his blankets at home that Itachi would realise what he had said.

And it wasn't until then, that the tears started to fall.

_Itachi, I loved you._


End file.
